Christmas Reflection

But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth from me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from old, from ancient days. And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, and they shall live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth; and he shall be the one of peace. Micah 2: 2,4



The prophet Micah sings and hopes for little Bethlehem. The tiny village, located in the small clan territory of Ephrathah, was a vulnerable territory, exposed to many army raids. But that undefended place, says Micah, will “live secure” in time to come, because a new ruler, a shepherd will feed, guard, protect, and sustain them. The Bible is relentless in its conviction that God will side, eventually, with the little ones, those who are vulnerable.



Out of that faith, Mary sings! Empire must have told Micah and then Mary that such hope is absurd in the world of real power. But Mary, trusting the angel, believes that nothing will be impossible for God (Luke 1:37). And so she sings! She sings about the hungry, the poor, the prisoner.



Mary knew what Micah knew, what Israel always knew, and what the church seeks to knows in Advent. The weak and vulnerable will be “lifted up.” The poetry and the song invite us to move out beyond the world given to us as it is and into a new, different world. We may, in anticipation, already act in and for that new age. Friends around Mary can hope and sing. And the rest of us, while we wait, can get alongside the little ones, the vulnerable who will be honoured by the new reality of the Christ-child.